Curses and Bonds
by Prince Arjuna
Summary: Itachi Uchiha should be dead at this point, but somehow, he found himself not only alive, but also in a completely different world where shinobi never existed. After fighting a group of undead, unintentionally seducing a red-haired merchant girl, he stumbled upon Chrom and his Shepherds, where he came to know a certain enigmatic tactician.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hello, dear reader. This is me, Prince Arjuna. It's been almost a year since the last time I ever wrote any of my fanfictions, and I still have quite a lot of fanfictions to update sooner or later, but now, I've decided to make a new story, which is a crossover between _Fire Emblem: Awakening_ and _Naruto_. This story will focus on Itachi, a character of _Naruto_ who should have died in Narutoverse but somehow is alive and well while finding himself in the world of _Fire Emblem: Awakening_. The timeline of this fanfiction is around the time after Chapter 4 of Fire Emblem: Awakening, Two Falchions. And beware spoiler for Naruto reader.

**Summary:** Itachi Uchiha should be dead at this point, but somehow, he found himself not only alive, but also in a completely different world where shinobi never existed. After fighting a group of undead, unintentionally seducing a red-haired merchant girl, he stumbled upon Chrom and his Shepherds, where he came to know a certain enigmatic tactician.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_ or _Fire Emblem Awakening_. Don't be silly.

Enjoy, and if you have time, give me your opinions. May subject to improvement soon.

* * *

The moment he came to his senses, which shouldn't be possible considering his current condition, he realized that he wasn't dead. Being dead was something he was familiar with and he even spent quite a time as an undead after his real death, whatever that meant. He found himself on the ground, feeling pretty much alive instead of being, well, dead.

Itachi Uchiha knew that it shouldn't be possible, but here he was, feeling the beating of his heart and the warmth of his body. His undead body of Edo Tensei, as far as he could remember, was technically lifeless and was merely moving instead of living. He knew that he wasn't an undead, that was for sure. He lifted one of his hands and looked into his palm. There were no signature cracks in the body of those resurrected by the forbidden Jutsu. Then, he touched his own face with that hand.

It was no illusion. Itachi Uchiha was really alive. He didn't know why, but he was really alive. There was no Genjutsu or any sort of illusion involved in this. Being a master of illusion himself, he was sure that this was real.

"Why… why am I alive?" the young Uchiha muttered to himself as he spent a couple of minutes on the ground. Then, he decided that being on the ground wasn't the best way to figure out his current situation, so he got up on his feet. He grunted as he picked himself up.

Yes, he could feel his own body. He knew he wasn't a moving corpse, but a living body. It pretty much confirmed that he wasn't a zombie that had been summoned from that fouled Jutsu. Then, he realized that he was wearing his cloud-patterned black cloak, the one that he wore during his time as a member of Akatsuki, instead of the plain black one that he wore during his tenure as one of Kabuto's undead lackeys. He also wore his forehead protector with the crossed out sigil of Konoha, the sign of his betrayal that was driven by his love of his village.

He still could remember that time when he committed a massacre upon his own clan in order to prevent a civil war between the Uchiha and the rest of Konoha. It wasn't something that he felt proud of. In fact, if he were to list things that he regretted doing, committing that massacre would be placed as the number one. However for the sake of Konoha, the peace that he sought, and for the sake of the burning Will of Fire within him, he intentionally made himself a despicable villain for the greater good. He realized that despite his good intention, his actions were misguided, and he brought on more harm than good. He even caused his beloved little brother to succumb to the curse of their bloodline, the curse of hatred, turning him into a monster who sought for the destruction of Konoha due to the suffering that it caused to Itachi.

"Heh… I suppose there's no point crying over the spilled milk," Itachi muttered to himself again. He could only hope that his last words and the visions he gave to Sasuke before he was released from his undead state was enough to change him. Right now, the only thing he could do was to trust in Naruto. Yet now, he had something to be concerned about, namely his somehow mysterious resurrection in a seemingly unfamiliar place.

He sniffed the air and observed his surroundings. So far, there was nothing out of ordinary about this place, but he didn't remember seeing this place while he was alive. The sun was in the sky, which was obvious, and he could hear the sounds of cicadas and birds around him. Feeling that there was no point staying there, the prodigious Uchiha decided to walk around , searching for any clue about this place. For one, it was clear that he wasn't in Konoha or any of the hidden villages.

Being an experienced Shinobi, if he found himself in an unfamiliar terrain, he needed to do a little observation and reconnaissance. As he walked, he felt a little stiff, probably the side effect of being dead and undead. Imagine being a zombie who couldn't feel pain, and then finding yourself alive and well, you could probably imagine Itachi's current condition. But Itachi knew that he would soon adapt to this, given enough time.

As he walked, he figured out another thing. While his time as an Edo Tensei undead was a couple of hours at worst, a day or two at best, being an undead would mean that he wouldn't have to drink or eat in order to sustain himself. But now that he's pretty much alive, he would need to drink and eat. And being in the middle of an unfamiliar place, it would be hard to find something to sustain himself.

Well, he could just go to a nearby forest and hunt for some animals to eat. He wasn't very fond of venison or meat in general, but considering his current situation, he knew that he didn't really have a choice in the matter. He didn't really have any weapons in his possession, which was kind of expected, but he knew that he could manage with a clever usage of his Sharingan and his Ninjutsu.

Deciding to go towards the direction of a nearby forest, Itachi started to walk, but a sound of screaming caused him to stop. Then he heard more noises, and he knew that someone was in trouble. Deciding that hunting for a bear could wait, he dashed towards the direction of the noise. Utilizing his chakra into his feet, he accelerated towards the noise, where he was greeted by a scene that baffled him.

There was a caravan and a couple of people, probably merchants, were being surrounded by more than two dozen strange-looking people armed with weapons. The strange-looking people seemed to have some kind of strange purple smoke coming out of their body, and their movements seemed strange, which reminded him of those who were summoned by Edo Tensei itself. Their strange coloration didn't help either. They moaned and groaned as they moved, didn't seem to show any sort of intelligence and only moved based on instinct.

Being a former undead himself, Itachi could recognize an undead when he saw one. Those things were clearly undead, but were different compared to the Edo Tensei's undead. While those resurrected by the forbidden Jutsu retained some sort of intelligence that they had while still alive, these weren't the same. He didn't know what caused this, or whether the Edo Tensei was something that summoned these things, but there was one thing that was clear.

He needed to rescue these merchants.

"N-no…" one of the merchants, a red-haired young woman squeaked in fear as two of those living corpses cornered her near one of her carts. "Please help me!" she cried. The rest of the people who accompanied her did nothing because they were paralyzed in fear. Itachi found no reason to wait as he performed a series of complicated hand seals to use one of his Ninjutsu.

_"Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger!"_ Concentrating his chakra, Itachi formed a ring near his mouth using his thumb and middle finger before he released a massive fireball towards the horde of the undead. _"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"_ He minimized the size of his fireball so that he wouldn't accidentally hurt the merchants that he wanted to protect. The result was that a few of those living corpses were burned to crisp. Then Itachi took his chance to grab one of the swords on the ground, which belonged to one of those corpses that had burned into nothingness.

The merchants were surprised as Itachi apparently rescued them by throwing a fireball towards the undead warriors that were surrounding them. Wielding the iron sword, Itachi stood protectively between the merchants and the living corpses, holding the sword in reverse grip. He activated his Sharingan, preparing himself to use more of his Ninjutsu to protect these merchants.

"Are you alright?" Itachi asked the merchants, but the question was directed to the female, red-haired merchant who was standing behind him. The young female merchant squeaked in surprise as Itachi directed that question to her.

"I-I'm alright!" she answered. The other merchants also answered to Itachi's question.

"Good," Itachi nodded before he shifted his attention to the undead warriors around them. Somehow, they were shifting their attention to Itachi, which was a good thing, considering that at least the merchants wouldn't be harmed as long as he could fight these things. "I'll kill them all. So, please hang in there. I assure you that none of you shall be harmed…"

Holding his sword in his right hand and making a hand seal with his left, he looked at the living corpses around them. It would be difficult, but he knew that he could manage it somehow.

"I am Itachi Uchiha of the Leaf, and I shall be your opponent…" Itachi said coolly, preparing to attack.

* * *

"What do you think, Robin?"

A blue-haired young man in regal attire, which was sleeveless on the right side of the clothing, spoke to the dark-haired young woman beside him. They were observing the battle that unfolded in front of them. They were in a distance that allowed them to see the mysterious cloaked person fighting the Risens to protect the merchants from them.

"That man seems to be skilled enough to fight all those Risens by himself, but he may end up being overwhelmed due to their large number," the woman replied to the blue-haired young man. "What should we do now, Chrom? Should we jump in and assist him?" The tactician looked at the prince of Ylisse.

"…" Chrom stroked his chin with his hand for a while before he nodded. "That man is putting his life on the line to protect those merchants. That alone is enough reason for us to assist him…" He put his hand on the hilt of Falchion that was sheathed on his waist before he looked behind to address the others. "Shepherds, be ready! We're going into battle!"

Robin smiled. "Alright, let's get started now…" The tactician opened her tome, preparing to use her magic in battle.

"Robin, do your things," Chrom spoke to Robin before he unsheathed his Falchion. "Shepherds, attack!" he yelled before he led the charge, followed by the rest of the Shepherds. Robin, as the tactician of the Shepherds, a small army led by Prince Chrom of Ylisse, guided the members of the Shepherds into their places after formulating a few strategies on the fly.

"Virion, stay with me!" Robin ordered the archer of the team, Virion to stay beside her before she looked at the newest addition of the team, Lon'qu and another member of Shepherds, Vaike.

"Lon'qu, Vaike, protect both Miriel and Lissa!" Then, she looked at the Cavaliers of the team, Stahl and Sully. "Stahl, Sully, go and assist Chrom!"

She then focused on the most experienced member of the Shepherds, Frederick. "You stay with us too, and protect Sumia from the archers!"

The only Pegasus Knight in their group hovered above them, watching out for archers in the group of the Risens.

The sudden appearance of the Shepherds was quite a surprise to Itachi, and when Chrom approached him, the Shinobi raised his sword in order to protect himself from any sort of harm.

"Peace, friend…" the prince spoke to Itachi in soft tone, lowering his Falchion to show him that he meant no harm. "We are here to assist you. Fighting these Risens together is better than fighting them alone."

"Risens?" the Shinobi frowned, seemingly unfamiliar with the term.

"We call them Risens," Chrom pointed at the undead warriors around them. "They have been around for quite a while. They are mindless, but they can be dangerous to the living. It is best for us to deal with them as soon as possible."

Itachi lowered his sword before he nodded. "Yes, thank you…" He returned his focus back on the Risens around them. "I appreciate the assistance."

"I am Chrom, the leader of the Shepherds," the prince introduced himself as he assumed a battle stance as he stood beside Itachi. "Who might you be?"

"My name is Itachi," the Shinobi also introduced himself. "But more introductions can wait. Let's kill all these 'Risens'."

"Agreed…" Chrom nodded.

With the help of the Shepherds, a seemingly hopeless battle turned into a one-sided slaughter. The Shepherds acted in coordinated manner, thanks to the tactician of the team, Robin. In less than half an hour, all the Risens were defeated, and they dissipated into purple smoke after being defeated, leaving behind their broken weapons and a couple of miscellaneous things that could be looted and put into the team's inventory.

"It seems that all the Risens have been defeated, milord," Frederick came down from his horse as he went to the prince's side, folding his arms behind his back.

Itachi went to speak with the merchants, particularly the red-haired female. The female merchant blushed as she expressed her gratitude to the Shinobi for saving them from being killed by the Risens.

"P-please take this, sir." The red-haired merchant handed Itachi a few things like vulnerary, foods and a couple of things while expressing her gratitude. "I am thankful that you rescued us. I-if you weren't here, we might have died…"

"Please don't mention it," Itachi shrugged it off as he took the things that were given to him. At long last, he finally had something to fill his empty stomach. He put all of those things into the pouch that was given by the merchants. Then, the merchants bid them farewell before they left.

Seeing that the merchants had gone, Chrom approached the cloaked Shinobi. "Now that everything seems to settle down, let us talk," the prince said to Itachi. The Shinobi nodded, looking at Chrom with his crimson eyes. Chrom found those eyes rather unnerving, but he decided to not voice it out.

"Yes, I suppose that is for the best," Itachi said. He put down his sword so that their conversation could flow smoothly.

"Well, let me begin by introducing ourselves first," Chrom said as Robin approached him. She looked at the mysterious cloaked man and saw his crimson eyes. Like Chrom, she also found those eyes to be rather unnerving, and she swore that those eyes seemed to glow slightly when she focused hard enough. Then she noticed that she had been staring at the mysterious man before she looked away. "This is Robin, our tactician," Chrom introduced Robin to Itachi.

"Yes, I am pleased to meet you," Robin said to Itachi, smiling. She looked at Itachi suspiciously, still feeling alarmed by his red eyes. "And… who might you be?"

Itachi noticed her discomfort, but he decided to do nothing about it.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha," he introduced himself, bowing slightly. "Itachi Uchiha of Konoha…" both Chrom and Robin frowned when they heard about Konoha. It seemed that they never heard about such place before. "I suppose that there are more things that need to be addressed, but not here."

"Yes," Chrom nodded. Somehow, he felt something familiar after meeting this Itachi. It felt like that time when he met Robin at the field a couple of weeks ago. "This place is not a good place for an extended conversation, and we should head back to Ylisse as soon as possible. We have to bring back the news about our negotiation with Regna Ferox."

"Ylisse?" Itachi frowned. It seemed that Ylisse was the name of a place and so did Regna Ferox.

"I know there are many things that you want to ask, but let's head back to Ylisse first…" Robin said, still smiling. She didn't know whether to trust this Itachi person or not, but since Chrom had decided to put his trust on him, she decided to do the same as well.

"Yes, if you say s-!" suddenly, Itachi felt a sharp pain inside his head before his vision turned crimson. "Ngh!" he put his hands on the sides of his head, trying to resist the pain. Both Chrom and Robin were alarmed by this, so was Frederick and the rest of the Shepherds.

"Itachi!" The prince immediately went to his side. "Itachi, what's wrong?"

"Ngh! Argh!" the pain became more intense with each second passing. The Shepherds started to panic, and Robin shouted at the Shepherds, asking for Lissa to use her power to ease Itachi's pain.

"Itachi, hang in there!" Robin said, grabbing Itachi's shoulder. Lissa was already nearby, holding her staff while having a worried look on her face. They didn't know what happened, but they were sure of one thing.

Itachi was in great pain.

"Itachi, can you hear me?" Itachi heard a voice, which was distorted due to the pain he suffered. He didn't know whose voice was that. He could feel healing magic seeping into his body, thanks to Lissa using her staff on him. After a while, Itachi's vision darkened and he passed out.

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Hello, dear reader. This is me again, Prince Arjuna. Sorry for the late update, but this is the second chapter of this fanfiction. I still need to improve a few things, but I hope this one is satisfactory for now. Also, while I'll be putting Itachi as the main character here, I won't make him steal the plot and make him the center of everything. There will be romance as well, so please look forward for it.

**Summary:** Itachi Uchiha should be dead at this point, but somehow, he found himself not only alive, but also in a completely different world where shinobi never existed. After fighting a group of undead, unintentionally seducing a red-haired merchant girl, he stumbled upon Chrom and his Shepherds, where he came to know a certain enigmatic tactician.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_ or _Fire Emblem Awakening_. Don't be silly.

Enjoy, and if you have time, give me your opinions. May subject to improvement soon.

* * *

_"Hey, do you have any plan this evening, Itachi?"_

It's been a long time since the last time Itachi ever experienced a dream, especially this particular dream. It was back then, when he was still a respectable Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village instead of being an international criminal as a member of Akatsuki. In this dream, he was wearing his ANBU's armor over his high-collared black shirt and his forehead protector, which hadn't been scratched out yet. He was talking to a female Shinobi, who was wearing a stylized Uchiha's getup, which consisted of a black high-collared black shirt and black miniskirt and also a pair of black, tight shorts underneath it.

The female Shinobi was around his age, probably around thirteen to fourteen. She wore her dark hair short and she wore her forehead protector around her neck like a choker. Her facial feature, her black eyes and fan-shaped insignia etched on her back indicated that she was also an Uchiha like Itachi. She also wore forearm protectors on both arms.

_"Is there anything you want from me?"_

Itachi replied to the girl with another question in his usual cool and detached manner. The Uchiha girl blinked several times before she pouted.

_"Mou, didn't I tell you to step acting so formal with me? We're childhood friends, remember?"_

The Uchiha girl spoke in slight indignation, causing the prodigious teenager to chuckle a bit.

_"Sorry. Well, what is it you want from me?"_

The Uchiha girl fidgeted slightly as if in embarrassment. One could clearly see that she was having a crush on this particular genius of a Shinobi.

_"W-well, if you don't mind, will you join me for some tea? I heard there is a new teahouse just opened recently. Will you join me, Itachi?"_

Itachi looked at the Uchiha girl when she invited him to go to a teahouse. It's been a while since the last time he went to one. On one hand, he would like to visit one to unwind himself after doing many missions these last few weeks, but on the other hand, he still needed to submit reports to the Hokage regarding his missions. Seeing that he still needed to fulfill his responsibility as a Shinobi, he had to make it clear that there was something that he needed to do.

_"Umm… I'm sorry, but I can't this evening. I still need to submit my reports to the Hokage."_

As if in disappointment, the Uchiha girl looked down. Itachi felt sorry for her.

_"I-I see. W-well, it's okay. It's your responsibility, after all."_

Without thinking, Itachi reached out to touch her shoulder, causing the girl to let out a cute yelp. Smiling, Itachi spoke to her in reassuring tone.

_"How about next time? Let's go to the teahouse next time, okay?"_

The girl's expression brightened.

_"Promise…?"_

_ "____…_I promise."

At this point, the dreamscape started to get blurry. Itachi tried to recall the name of the girl, but he found himself unable to remember her name. It felt like there was something preventing him from remembering her name. He got a feeling that it wasn't something that he would rather recall, but not knowing her name made him feel rather uncomfortable. As he struggled to remember her name, the dreamscape collapsed before everything went dark.

And the very first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a sharp knife…

…that was used to peel an apple, followed by the person who was holding the knife to peel that said apple.

"Hello?" said the person who was peeling the apple. "Feeling better now?" the person was a dark-haired young woman clad in a coat with eye-shaped patterns on it. She was sitting beside the bed Itachi was on, and she was currently trying her best to peel an apple. One could see that she had done quite a passable job, providing that one could overlook the fact that she had cut too deep into the apple while peeling the fruit.

"…Where am I?" the Shinobi sat up, looking at his surroundings. He was in a room or some sorts, and there were only two of them in the room.

"You're in the sickbay, Itachi," said the young woman, still trying her best to peel the apple. "Oops!" she accidentally cut a large chunk of that apple as she peeled it. "You've been unconscious for almost a week," she helpfully informed him.

"A week?" the Shinobi looked at the young woman bemusedly. "What happened to me?" he asked.

"You passed out," the young woman answered. "There's nothing wrong to you. You probably suffered a migraine, though," she informed. "And… I had introduced myself to you before, but I'm Robin, the tactician of the Shepherd."

Itachi could recall the time when the young woman, Robin introduced herself. He bowed slightly. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Robin," he said in polite tone. "I'm Itachi Uchiha…" he introduced himself.

"I know…" Robin said with a smile. "You already introduced yourself before you passed out. And please drop the formality when you are around me, alright?" she told Itachi that due to him addressing her as 'Miss' earlier. "And you should thank Lissa for watching over you. She's the one who treat you while you're unconscious."

"Lissa?" the Shinobi blinked. He could recall that particular blond and short young lady at that time before he passed out. "Yes, I'll remember that…" then, he heard a growling noise before he realized that it was from his stomach. He remembered that he hadn't eaten anything yet.

"Ah, you haven't eaten anything yet, have you?" Robin asked before she took a plate which had unevenly-sliced pieces of apple on it. "Good thing I prepared this in advance. I'm sorry because this isn't much. I'll tell other people to prepare something for you to eat," she said with a smile.

Itachi looked at the food prepared for him. The pieces of apple didn't seem to be appetizing, but since they were meant to be eaten instead of being pieces of artworks, he thought that it wasn't right to complain before he started eating. Because of the way Robin cut them, they weren't much, but Itachi couldn't exactly complain about it. At least he could fill his stomach with something.

And so, after finishing the apple, Itachi looked at Robin, smiling. Even though he's still feeling hungry, he was glad that he could at least eat something. "Thank you for the food, Miss Robin…"

Robin smiled as well. "You're welcome," then, she frowned. "Didn't I tell you to drop the formality, Itachi?"

"I'm sorry. I did that on reflex," the Shinobi apologized.

The tactician let out a sigh. "Oh well. I guess I can't help it," she said before she got up from her seat. "I'll tell the cook to make something good for you. Once you regain your strength, we'll explain everything to you…" she looked into Itachi's eyes. Unlike before, his eyes were no longer red. It seemed that she had figured out that Itachi could change the color of his eyes. "I do have a feeling that there's something different about you. I can't say what it is, but the feeling is there. I can sense it…" she said before she turned around. "Well, see you later."

And so, Robin left Itachi alone in the room.

"…" Itachi blinked several times in bemusement. "…What a strange lady," he mused to himself. But he was sure of one thing; he knew that he could trust her. There was something strange about that one particular young woman. From what he could tell, she might be around his age, or probably one or two years older than him. Her obsidian-colored hair was short and a little messy, but Itachi found these features of her made her rather charming, in a way. And her bulky-looking coat also seemed to be hiding the fact that she was actually rather tiny for a woman around her age.

In the end, Itachi just sighed. He was still hungry. He had no choice but to wait until someone came in to bring him food.

* * *

So far, Itachi Uchiha seemed to understand what kind of world he had been thrown into. Robin's explanation was quite concise and understandable, and she told him about everything he needed to know like the names of places, terms and the names of a few significant people that one needed to know. Itachi was thankful that Robin was there to deliver the explanation to him.

"So, are you saying that Ylisse is currently under threat of war by Plegia?" Itachi asked after Robin was done giving her explanation to him about the current events.

The tactician nodded. "Yes. Plegia is our westerly neighbor, and there is quite a bad history between Ylisse and Plegia. You can ask Chrom about it later, but you can say that Plegia is the reason why there were bandits and ruffians attacking the small towns of Ylisse…" she looked down. "They have been hurting innocent civilians, which is very unforgiveable. That's why the Shepherds have been around, maintaining peace and order in Ylisse."

"But a small band of warriors isn't enough to watch over the whole country," Itachi said. From Robin's explanation earlier, Ylisse didn't have a great military prowess as it had to rely on its neighbor for assistance.

Robin nodded. "That's why we asked for Regna Ferox's assistance. Unlike Ylisse, Ferox is a militant nation which can provide us with enough manpower in case war erupts between Ylisse and Plegia…" then, she muttered softly. "But it'll be better if we don't have to fight."

Itachi could understand her well. Being someone who had grown up during war, he knew quite well the horror that wars could bring. Experiencing the horror in such a young age, he gained an understanding that helped him to overcome the curse of his bloodline in order to seek peace. He desired peace more than anyone else, but he was too young and too naïve to realize that he was too misguided in his attempt to keep order and peace. He could find other ways for himself to avoid bloodshed, but instead, in order to prevent a civil war within Konoha, he was forced to annihilate his fellow clansmen. Deep inside, such action tore him apart, but he knew that someone had to do it, or else everyone might have to suffer the consequences. He had yet to forgive himself for committing such atrocity, but there was nothing else he could do, and as a Shinobi, there was no time for hesitation.

"Itachi…?" Robin's voice snapped him back into reality. "Itachi, what is the matter? Is something bothering you?" there was concern in her tone as she asked him that question. Currently, both of them were walking side-by-side down the corridor in the castle which was located in Ylisstol.

"It is nothing," Itachi replied with a smile. "It's just that… wherever I go, there will be always conflicts. It's the same like my place," he sighed as he looked up.

"Your place?" the tactician recalled that time when Itachi introduced himself as Itachi Uchiha of the Leaf Village. "Do you mean the Leaf Village? Is there where you came from?" she didn't remember any Leaf Village, or at least not from any maps or books that she had read before. This part of Itachi made Robin rather curious about this particular Shinobi.

"Yes. Many things happened and I don't know where to start," Itachi sighed softly. "And I don't even know how and why I ended up being here…" he admitted. He didn't know why, but everything just came out naturally as he spoke to her. He couldn't explain it well, but he just knew that he could trust Robin, which was saying something, considering that he was a Shinobi who was trained to not trust anyone, even comrades. Sure, he would trust anyone if he could help it, but only if he had prepared for everything beforehand. Everything would include potential betrayal or such.

"It seems you're having it rough, Itachi. I'm sorry to hear that," Robin gave Itachi a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry. I'll sort things out with you. I promise."

"Miss Robin…" Itachi looked at Robin, and for a while, their eyes met. He immediately looked away and then coughed into his fist. "What I want to say is… thank you. I'm glad to have someone I can rely on here…" he said.

Robin chuckled. "I'm glad to help."

And so, these two started chatting while walking alongside each other. Their main topic seemed to be about Frederick's particular dislike towards venison. She told Itachi about the prank she pulled on him about feeding him bear meat. Itachi found it to be quite funny.

But their conversation was disrupted by the incoming sight of a certain young Cleric. She almost bumped into Itachi as she ran.

"Lissa…?" Robin said. "Lissa, what's the matter?" she asked the young Cleric, Lissa, who seemed to be quite distraught about something. She was holding her staff tightly and she was on verge of tears as Robin tried to calm her down. "Lissa, is something wrong?"

"R-Robin… M-Maribelle… s-she… she's…" Lissa was unable to come up with anything coherent.

"What's wrong with Maribelle?" Robin asked, starting to worry. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her around. What happened to her?" she asked.

"M-Maribelle… s-she's been captured by Plegians!" Lissa cried.

"What?" Robin gasped. "I-it can't be…"

As for Itachi, he didn't understand what's going on here, but from what he could tell, someone was in trouble. Being a person he was, now that he had no more reason to hide it, he would like to do anything in order to help that someone.

And then, people would be able to see why he was the genius among the Shinobi.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
